Mechanical, electrical or gas stunning; slaughter methods and monitoring signs of unconsciousness or consciousness
References

CFIA Regulatory requirements for humane treatment of food animals during slaughtering activities under the Safe Food for Canadians:

• Humane stunning and slaughter of food animals and post-cut management
• Additional PCP Content for food animal welfare
• Humane treatment of food animals at the slaughter establishment

CFIA guidelines of best practices:

• Guidelines for Stunning Techniques of Mammalian Food Animals
• Guidelines for the humane care and handling of food animals at slaughter
• Guidelines for animal welfare Preventive Control Plans and self-audits for the slaughter of food animals
• Guidelines for stunning techniques for avian food animals, including ratites

Controlled atmospheric stunning (CAS) references:

• Temple Grandin: Gas stunning of pigs
• EFSA Journal, 2017:
  • Low atmospheric pressure system for stunning broiler chickens
• Temple Grandin: Gas stunning of poultry
• A new humane method of stunning broilers using low atmospheric pressure, Y. Vizzier-Thaxton et al, 2010, J. Appl. Poult. Res. 10L341-348
• Official Journal of the European Union - PDF (1,421 kb), L122, volume 61, May 17, 2018

Electrical stunning references:

• Shields, Sara J., Raj, A.B.M, Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 13:281 – 299, 2010:
  • A critical review of electrical water-bath stun systems for poultry slaughter and recent developments in alternative technologies
• Girasole, Mariagrazia, et al, Ital J Food Saf. 2015 Jun 30; 4(3): 4576:
  • Optimization of stunning electrical parameters to improve animal welfare in a poultry slaughterhouse

General references for stunning and slaughter of food animals:

• Humane Slaughter Association
• Chapter 7.5, slaughter of animals - Article 7.5.7, Stunning methods, World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH; founded as Office International des Épizooties (OIE))
• EFSA Journal (2004), 45, 1 -29, (English only):
  • Welfare aspects of the main systems of stunning and killing the main commercial species of animals
• Report on good and adverse practices - Animal welfare concerns in relation to slaughter practices from the viewpoint of veterinary sciences, K Von Holleben, M Von Wenzlawowicz, N Gregory, H Anil, Antonio Velarde, P Rodriguez, Beniamino Cenci Goga, B Catanese, B. Lambooij, February, 2010

Monitoring of stunning references:

• European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) publications for monitoring of stunning during slaughter, 2013:
  • Monitoring slaughter of bovines
  • Monitoring slaughter of pigs
  • Monitoring slaughter of poultry
• Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines & Audit Guide: A Systematic Approach to Animal Welfare, North American Meat Institute, Temple Grandin, with North American Meat Institute Animal Welfare Committee, June 2017

References for physiology of stunning and signs of consciousness/unconsciousness:

• Consciousness, unconsciousness and death in the context of slaughter, Part I, Neurobiological mechanisms underlying stunning and killing, Journal of Meat Science, 118 (2016), 133 – 146, Terlouw, Claudia, Cecile Bourquet, Veronique Deiss
• Consciousness, unconsciousness and death in the context of slaughter, Part II, Evaluation methods, Journal of Meat Science, 118 (2016), 147 – 156, Terlouw, Claudia, Cecile Bourquet, Veronique Deiss
• Verhoeven, Merel, Marien Gerritzen, Antonio Velarde, Ludo Hellebrekers, Bas Kemp, Time to Loss of Consciousness and Its Relation to Behavior in Slaughter Pigs during Stunning with 80 or 95% Carbon Dioxide, 2016
• Assessing unconsciousness in livestock at slaughter - PDF (8,635 kb), Merel Verhoeven - WUR
• Temple Grandin – Updated June 2017 to include information on Zone of Transition between fully conscious and unconscious:
  • How to Determine Insensibility (Unconsciousness) in Cattle, Sheep and Pigs

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